Chicago Blackhawks: Corey Crawford’s first game back reveals major hole

Corey Crawford made his long awaited debut last night against the Arizona Coyotes, here are my thoughts on how he played.

The Chicago Blackhawks lost for the first time in regulation last night, however there was a huge silver lining in the loss. Corey Crawford made his season debut for the Blackhawks. It was Crawford’s first game action in 300 days.

For all the drama and uncertainty leading up to this night, Crawford seemed to handle it really well and also seemed to be relieved to be back on the ice with his teammates. You could tell he had been as anxious as everyone else waiting for this night.

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In my opinion, Crawford easily played well enough to win the game and looked a lot like his old self early on. Crawford made some big time stops on multiple occasions in the game, most of which were a result of being completely hung out to dry by his defense.

Crawford allowed three goals in 30 shots, however, I can very easily make a case that he only had a realistic chance on one of those goals. This might be a narrative we hear a lot this year because this defense seems to be getting worse by the game.

The first goal was on a two on one rush, in which Brandon Manning didn’t challenge the trigger man, but also didn’t take away the passing lane. It might as well have been a clean 2-on-0 break because Manning did absolutely nothing to help Crawford.

The second sequence that left Crawford helpless was a turnover right at the blue line which resulted in a breakaway for the Coyotes. Crawford said in a post game interview that he expects himself to stop that one, however, he can only save the poor defense so many times in 60 minutes.

Even though the scoreboard did not reflect it, I thought Crawford played a heck of a game last night, especially considering it was his first game in 300 days. The problem is, Crawford is going to have to be super human to cover up the holes that this porous defense creates.

If the Blackhawks have any chance of continuing their early season success (3-1-2) they will need to help their goalie out by being competent on defense while he gets his legs under him. If tonight is any sign of things to come, Crawford is back. If he can get any help from the blue line, the Blackhawks should be viewed as a possible playoff team this season.